1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the preparation of binary sulfur compounds, the cation of which being a transition metal or a rare earth metal, and more especially, to the preparation of rare earth or transition metal sulfides.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The higher sulfides of the rare earths are useful hydrotreatment catalysts in the petroleum refining industry. The sesquisulfides of the rare earths may be used as colored pigments for plastics, ceramics, ceramic materials, for example glass products. They also find applications in materials constituting optical windows, both for visible light and for infrared. Finally, they are also useful for detecting the presence of sulfur.
The sulfides of the transition metals are industrially useful as hydrotreatment catalysts, lubricants or as electrodes in batteries and cells (for example, photovoltaic cells). They also find applications in the luminescent compound industry.
The synthesis of rare earth sulfides containing at least one element of the lanthanide series, "Ln", having atomic numbers ranging from 57 to 71, or containing yttrium, having an atomic number of 39, by directly reacting such elements with sulfur, is a costly process.
Presently, the synthesis of these sulfides, as particularly described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,095 and FR 2,100,551, is carried out by the action of hydrogen or carbon sulfide on an amorphous oxycarbonate or a rare earth oxide at a temperature higher than 1,000.degree. C. Such a synthesis does not permit the use of large amounts of reactants and is therefore difficult to exploit on an industrial scale.
The synthesis of sulfides of the transition metals containing elements having atomic numbers ranging from 21 to 30, 40 to 50 and 72 to 82, is carried out by the action of hydrogen sulfide on a salt of a transition metal, for example a chloride, at moderate temperatures, or by the direct action of the individual elements.